Chapter 318

Sure enough, the next day, as soon as Naoki Nagayama arrived at the student apartment, he was kicked off the set by Yin Tangxiuyi,

who kept saying:

"Leave the rest to me; there is no use for Naoki-san here anymore~ Dayou-san's side is your true home~"

Tsk, don't beg me to come over next time you film something else!

Naoki Nagayama had no choice but to drive his convertible to the studio, only to find that Masami Inada had already brought Junko Ito to wait in the studio.

"Naoki-san, good morning~" Junko Ito wore a thick white wool sweater paired with slim-fit jeans, looking very youthful. After a full year of her debut career, this idol had shed her original greenness in both her attire and temperament.

Naoki Nagayama naturally replied enthusiastically: "Good morning, Junko-chan, you are getting more and more beautiful~"

"Naoki-san's mouth is so sweet~ You must have deceived many girls, right?" Junko Ito laughed until her eyes squinted. The more she knew Naoki Nagayama, the more she knew he was very casual among acquaintances.

This sentence left Naoki Nagayama with no way to respond. He had clearly never deceived any young girls, yet he had unknowingly given people the impression that he was very flirtatious and experienced.

"Junko-chan, don't ruin my reputation~" Naoki Nagayama said while walking into the office.

"Dayou-san, did you and Xiuyi-san reach some kind of consensus in private?"

Fangcun Dayou didn't know when he had developed the habit of drinking a cup of hot tea in the morning. At this moment, he was holding a cup of hot tea and tasting it slowly; it was the tea leaves Naoki Nagayama had given him...

Seeing someone enter, he didn't make any special movements: "Consensus or whatever, of course, there isn't... however, wanting Naoki-san to be less idle has already become a subconscious agreement!"

"...... Why can't I be idle........" Naoki Nagayama was speechless, "Isn't the point of making money to avoid working so hard?"

"Naoki-san...... if a person is so decadent, they will break!"

Fangcun Dayou seemed a bit serious, "Even if you don't work for money, at least you should do something interesting and worth striving for~"

"Could it be that Naoki-san has no interest in the music business and the film business?"

Naoki Nagayama scratched his head slightly and said:

"If you say no, I seem to have a little interest... but if you say I have interest, it doesn't seem to be that great of an interest either......"

Ever since he made money relying on records and movies, his life goal seemed to have really drifted with the tide.

However, being a salted fish drifting with the tide is actually quite comfortable, right~

Fangcun Dayou sighed. Sure enough, people with too much talent all have a common problem. Because they can easily achieve accomplishments that ordinary people cannot get even with hard work, they don't value these achievements very much.

Perhaps this can only wait for him to adjust himself~

"No matter what...... finishing the work at hand is always the right thing to do." Fangcun Dayou gave up on influencing Naoki Nagayama's views and directly spoke about the upcoming arrangements, "Let's finish the recording of Junko-chan's new song today."

"Hai hai~" Naoki Nagayama didn't say much, "But has the recording studio been booked?"

"Eh? We have already taken over a recording studio; didn't you know, Naoki?" Fangcun Dayou asked in surprise, as if he had just realized it.

"Taken over a recording studio?"

"Yes, didn't you say before that there is a high demand for our own artists, and it would be best to have our own recording studio?"

"So, Dayou-san just bought one directly?"

Was he that fast?

"Ah...... it just so happened that someone I knew wanted to sell." Fangcun Dayou returned to his unflappable attitude, "And we also took over the original employees of the recording studio, all placed under the rebellion label."

"....... As expected of Dayou-san, you considered it very comprehensively~"

Only then did Naoki Nagayama realize that after having a company, the casual things he said would really be treated as instructions and completed by someone.

Masami Inada drove in front to lead the way, and Naoki Nagayama followed.

Soon, the car arrived near Ueno Park in Taito Ward, a place called Shin-Okachimachi. The recording studio they took over was here, and opposite it was a Christian church.

"'Shin-on... studio'" Looking at the name on the sign, Naoki Nagayama was a bit curious, "Is this a new name Dayou-san came up with, or the old one?"

"It's the old one." Masami Inada said from the side, "Because we took over the recording studio directly, except for the shares, nothing else changed."

"I see~"

This was a small house hidden between street shops, almost entirely of old wooden structure; it didn't look very expensive.

Naoki Nagayama pushed the small door and went straight in. The inside was clean and tidy; it seemed to have been renovated.

The first floor was a small front desk, but there was no one there now. The actual recording place was on the second floor. Once upstairs, perhaps because of the soundproofing materials, it suddenly became much quieter.

There were four simple rooms. The two rooms near the street were rest rooms, convenient for communication and some text-related things.

The two rooms inside were connected and separated into a recording room and an external control console. Now, a young man was debugging it.

"Terashin-san, we are here!" Masami Inada greeted. When the young man turned around, "This is our president, Naoki Nagayama. Naoki-san, this is the sound engineer, Shin Onodera."

This was the first time Shin Onodera had seen the big boss of his new company, so he quickly stood up and bowed: "President Nagayama, nice to meet you. I am Shin Onodera; please treat me well."

"Nice to meet you, I am Naoki Nagayama~"

The introduction where you have to bow to each other upon meeting for the first time is really too lame. Can't we just westernize properly and shake hands?

"I will trouble Ono-kun today."

"Not at all, this is what I should do."

Junko Ito shouldn't have been here for the first time; she was very familiar with this place and greeted the sound engineer very familiarly.

After chatting for a while, the real business had to start. Naoki Nagayama asked directly:

"Junko-chan, you've tried it before, right? How is it? Can you sing 'Wrong Time and Space' completely now?"

"Hai, I have tried it many times~"

"Then let me listen to it~"

Junko Ito walked into the recording room, and Naoki Nagayama also put on his headphones. However, this time it was a Chinese song adapted into Japanese, and Naoki Nagayama was also a bit cautious.

As the soft music sounded, Junko Ito's voice, which was sweet with a bit of a milky tone, came out from the headphones.

"

(Fate is not decided by rock-paper-scissors)

(So willful)

(I blew the evening breeze you blew)

(Then can we count as embracing)

"

Even in Japanese, such lyrics sound very catchy.

After listening, Naoki Nagayama didn't speak for a long time, and Junko Ito also knew Naoki Nagayama's style as a music producer, just quietly waiting for the next instruction.

"Ono-kun?"

The sudden voice made Shin Onodera, who was already a bit unsure of what to do, panic.

"Hai? I am here!"

Naoki Nagayama smiled: "Please add the background music and let me hear the effect. Junko-chan, wait a moment~"

Shin Onodera hurriedly operated the control console and played it.

With the music, Junko Ito's voice sounded even more healing, but... it lost the slight regret that the song itself carried.

"(In the end, it is empty, it is empty)"

Such lyrics, carrying a strong sense of unwillingness toward fate, were not reflected either.

Naoki Nagayama waved his hand, signaling Junko Ito to come out.

"Junko-chan, what were you thinking about while singing just now?"

"Ah... I was thinking about how to sing the song well..." Junko Ito murmured, "Specifically, I was thinking about where to sing softly and where to add emphasis..."

The young girl honestly expressed her feelings, "As for the emotions, I just immersed myself in a sentimental mood..."

"Hmm... sentimental? I can't say it's wrong." Naoki Nagayama said, "Junko-chan, actually, this song is not a sentimental song. The song itself is actually telling of the impermanence of fate; the person who was missed is no longer there."

"The name 'Wrong Time and Space' might be more appropriate if it were called 'Missed and No Longer There'..."

In this era, high school students do not have rich and colorful sources of information. Children like Junko Ito are actually relatively simple. Regarding the impermanence of fate and the fact that what is missed is no longer there, she actually has no real sense of it.

"....... Fate or whatever...." Junko Ito showed a difficult expression on her face.

Naoki Nagayama helped her recall: "Junko-chan, are there no past events that you regret? Someone you liked at school? Missing a confession or something... or other..."

"I confessed!" Junko Ito suddenly said.

"Eh?"

"I confessed to the person I liked in middle school! And we dated!" Junko Ito seemed quite calm, but that's fine; first love in middle school in Japan is not a big deal.

"Ah... I see. Then breaking up afterward must have been very regrettable, right?"

Because they had dated, it meant they had broken up. Naoki Nagayama felt that this unfinished first love must belong to the category of regret.

"There is nothing to regret....... I only discovered that guy had a bunch of shortcomings after we dated, so I dumped him directly!" Junko Ito said this without any hesitation.

"Ah, this..." Naoki Nagayama was choked and couldn't speak. Even Shin Onodera and Masami Inada next to him showed strange expressions on their faces...

So much for a nostalgic first love...

"Hahaha, Junko-chan, very decisive... cutting losses in time!"

"That goes without saying!"

Junko Ito seemed to have a very strong heart. With such a personality, how could she express the regret of the impermanence of fate and the fact that what is missed is no longer there... Naoki Nagayama fell into deep thought~

After not being able to think of a way for a long time, Naoki Nagayama let everyone rest for a while. After all, if they didn't find a method, staying in the recording studio was just a waste of time.

Naoki Nagayama sat in one of the outer rooms, opened the window, and continued to ponder...

Let Junko read a book? One about the impermanence of fate? Let her experience the experience of missing something and never getting it back? Let someone else tell her?

None of these could quickly make Junko Ito understand...

At this moment, a bell rang from the church outside the window, bringing Naoki Nagayama back to his senses.

"Ringing the bell at this time, is this a Christian church?"

From outside the window, looking at the inside of the church, it seemed like they were holding an activity. Everyone was quietly listening to the priest speak, and the whole atmosphere appeared solemn and calm.

It seemed that even the people on the street were infected, and the noise suddenly became much smaller.

Naoki Nagayama was just curious to see, but at this moment, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck: "Impermanence of fate or whatever, isn't that what religion is best at?! Especially Buddhism!"

So Naoki Nagayama found Shin Onodera, who was smoking with Masami Inada: "Ono-kun, are there any temples nearby?"

Shin Onodera was obviously caught off guard: "Eh? Temples? Senso-ji is just a few streets away."

"Senso-ji?" Naoki Nagayama shook his head, "Too big, and too many people; there is no quiet atmosphere. Are there any smaller ones with fewer people?"

"Uh... two intersections away, there is a small temple that is not very famous. It seems to be dedicated to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva..."

"Are there any monks who can perform Buddhist rites?"

"Eh? Buddhist rites?"

"The kind that chants scriptures and prays for blessings~"

"It should be possible..." Shin Onodera was not very sure, but at least praying for blessings should be no problem.

"Then let's get ready to go!" Naoki Nagayama shouted toward Junko Ito, "Junko-chan, let's go, we are going to worship Buddha!"

"Eh?" Junko Ito was confused, "Why go to worship Buddha suddenly?"

"To let you experience the impermanence of fate!"

Naoki Nagayama said with a smile. Actually, he just wanted Junko Ito to participate in a Buddhist rite at a temple. Young people in Japan are still relatively superstitious about these things. After participating in the rite, their hearts will naturally be infected and rise with some awe.

This kind of emotion is actually very similar to awe of fate; they are all emotions toward high and untouchable things that one cannot change...

In that state of mind, can she sing this song?

Besides, even if it doesn't work, praying for good luck is not a bad thing~

The four of them went out together, three of them confused and one seemingly having a plan, heading toward the small temple not far away.

However, after arriving, they discovered that this unknown temple was really very small, and there were no people. There was only one hall, and behind it were small rooms for the temple keeper to live in.

"Ono-kun, you are more familiar with this; ask the temple keeper if he can perform a prayer ceremony for Junko Ito." Naoki Nagayama directed.

"Junko-chan, don't think about anything else right now; you are just here at the temple to do a scripture-listening and prayer ceremony."

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The temple keeper, who was over fifty, was naturally willing because Shin Onodera was paying...

Then he took out a wooden fish, a kasaya, and other ritual implements, becoming a real monk, and began to chant scriptures in the main hall, really having the appearance of a high monk.

Junko Ito followed the formal process, cleaned her hands and face, calmed her mind, offered incense, and then knelt on the cushion in the main hall with her hands together, devoutly listening to the Buddhist scriptures.

After closing the main door, the whole atmosphere became quiet. The Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva in the main hall seemed to be quietly watching the believers below, with endless compassion.

The entire scripture-listening and prayer ceremony lasted about 40 minutes. By the end, the old temple keeper was a bit dry-mouthed, and his voice had become slightly hoarse, while Junko Ito seemed to be a true Buddhist, still kneeling on the cushion meticulously.

When the last sound of the wooden fish was struck, Junko Ito finally opened her eyes. When she came out and saw Naoki Nagayama, she seemed much calmer in her heart, and her eyes were exceptionally clear.

"Naoki-san, I feel a little heavy in my heart, but also a little calm."

"Junko-chan, keep it up! The state of emptiness might be difficult to achieve, but it doesn't matter; we only need a little bit of the artistic conception."

Taking advantage of Junko Ito's state of mind, Naoki Nagayama and his group hurriedly returned to the recording studio and began the tense recording process.

This time, the "(In the end, it is empty, it is empty)" in the lyrics was sung with a lot of feeling.

"Very good, Junko-chan, this time there is feeling." Naoki Nagayama said happily, "But this time the calm taste is too strong, the resentment is a little less, and the sweet feeling is also a little less."

"One more time, relax with the state of mind just now, I believe we will slowly find a balance!"

"Hai!"

So this balance-finding took half a day, and Junko Ito sang more than 50 times...

She didn't even get to eat lunch...

On this day, Junko recalled the terror under the tyranny of the recording studio, as well as the shame of being constantly nitpicked by Naoki Nagayama...